McCain speech

[knowknow456]

John McCain received an Liberty Medal for his military service. He took the opportunity to caution against a return to isolationism. Although he was not mentioned by name, it was a thinly veiled criticism of the President who has often espoused an America First policy. The key paragraphs from the speech are as follows.

"To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain 'the last best hope of earth' for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history."

"We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil. We are the custodians of those ideals at home, and their champion abroad. We have done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did. We have a moral obligation to continue in our just cause, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don't. We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldn't deserve to."

When asked about the speech, the President offered a thinly veiled threat to Senator McCain saying, "Be careful because at some point I fight back"

The full text is as follows - https://www.mccain.senate.gov/publi...eases?ID=3E879161-766F-4E0B-8FC9-F446A9F341F5

 

[SPK145]

Sounds like the typical neo-con, let's bomb the world rhetoric we've come to expect from far-past-his-prime McCain.

 

[shu09]

Sounds like the typical neo-con, let's bomb the world rhetoric we've come to expect from far-past-his-prime McCain.

I respect John McCain, but I agree with SPK. He's a globalist neo-con. One of the things I agree with Trump on is the America First philosophy. McCain's speech railed against that.

 

[SPK145]

I highly respect McCain’s service to our country and really liked him when he was a true maverick up until like 12 years ago, now he’s just another hypocritical neocon politician.

 

[knowknow456]

Personally I found little in the speech that felt like "bomb the world" rhetoric. The President is not the first to espouse "America First". Ironically, the first group ultimately wound up on the trash heap of history.

Even 80 years ago, the United States struggled unsuccessfully with isolationism. Today the world is way more interconnected than is was back then. For 70 years we have been the world leader with all the good and bad that entailed. Stepping away is possible, but once we cede the agenda to others it will be hard to get it back.

 

[cernjSHU]

Sounds like the typical neo-con, let's bomb the world rhetoric we've come to expect from far-past-his-prime McCain.

There was nothing in that speech about bombing the world. The speech was a condemnation of Trump and his policies. I would not call McCain a neo-con as well. McCain is a true American hero who has served his country honorably not only in the military but in the Senate as well. As he faces death, the man is one of the few Republicans that have the guts to speak out against the disaster which is Trump.

He made one huge mistake as a politician and that was choosing Sara Palin for his running mate.

 

[Merge]

McCain is speaking out against isolationism and acknowledging that the wealth and power the US has been obtained has been because of our role as the leader of the free world.

I am probably less of an interventionist than McCain, but agree with him on speaking out against "half-baked, spurious nationalism"

 

[knowknow456]

Former President George W. Bush gave a speech today at the Spirit of Liberty: At home, In the World event in NYC He took the opportunity to caution against a return to isolationism. Although he was not mentioned by name, it was a thinly veiled criticism of the President who has often espoused an America First policy. The key paragraphs from the speech are as follows.

For more than 70 years, the presidents of both parties believed that American security and prosperity were directly tied to the success of freedom in the world. And they knew that the success depended, in large part, on U.S. leadership. This mission came naturally, because it expressed the DNA of American idealism.

We have seen the return of isolationist sentiments – forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places, where threats such as terrorism, infectious disease, criminal gangs and drug trafficking tend to emerge.

The full text is as follows - http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/19/full-text-george-w-bush-speech-trump-243947